For our last few hours in Paris that weekend, we walked. We walked across the river, through the Jardin des Plantes, through to the Grande Mosquée de Paris, where we were to stop for a drink and a bite. For yes, the Grande Mosquée has a restaurant, a hammam and a salon de thé in its little garden and all of them appear to be very popular. The food served appears to be Tunisian/Moroccan and it all reminded us of our time in Marseille last year.
We found a table in the shade and from the roving waiter, we ordered two teas and from the counter within the building, I ordered two pastries. The teas were strong, hot and syrupy sweet.
Our savoury choice was a meat filled brik…
…while our sweet choice (which may have pushed us over the edge in terms of sugar) was a syrup soaked almond cake. The pastries were extremely fresh, what with the high turnover.
The garden is gorgeous and its trees provide not only shade for us tea drinkers but also a perch for some adorable sparrows.
Unfortunately, the sparrows do make a nuisance of themselves, jumping on tables and attempting to take pastries directly from plates or even hands!
Sparrows and all, I highly recommend it! The restaurant was also very popular and I’d love to stop there next time.
Grande Mosquée de Paris
2 bis Place du Puits de l’Ermite
75005 Paris
France
Tamarind and Thyme 
Mon, 24 Aug, 2015 at 20:08
looks like a lovely place!
Fri, 25 Sep, 2015 at 18:37
It’s seriously wonderful. And cheap!